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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28423752">After the Sequel</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustSomeNPC/pseuds/JustSomeNPC'>JustSomeNPC</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Re:CREATORS (Anime)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:02:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,535</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28423752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustSomeNPC/pseuds/JustSomeNPC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When an otaku girl fan of Re:Creators finds herself in an impossible situation, she'd meet someone she never expected to ever meet in real life. Soon, she'll discover the truth of her life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>After the Sequel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>         You might not believe me, but I want to tell everything without hiding anything. Because as incredible as it may sound, what I’m about to tell you is the truth of what occurred that day. You’ll probably think that I’m just a delusional girl, and I can’t blame you for that.</p><p>        </p><p>         As an otaku high schooler life was… quite mundane to me. You know those otakus that sometimes dream of living their favourite adventures, to be transported to other worlds because their day-to-day routine feels boring and un-interesting? Yeah, that was me.</p><p>         Everyday I fantasized about that. Transmigrating to a magical world, being chosen as a super heroine, piloting a giant robot and fight aliens, learning secrets of ancient martial arts to participate in underground tournaments… every anime trope had been re-enacted in my mind, with me as the protagonist.</p><p>         I didn’t have a boyfriend and I had never had one. After all, no one would be interested in a weird, boring girl like me. Besides… I daydreamed too much with impossible attractive guys, those found in animes or videogames. Compared to them, real life boys were dull and unattractive. Meeting a perfect, dreamy and handsome 2-D boy in real life? That would be the best day in my life! Ha ha… like that would ever happen.</p><p> </p><p>         It was a normal day, at least it should had been. I was travelling to Akihabara to buy my weekly dose of fantasy. What would be this time? A new blu-ray disc? Some light novel and manga volumes? A new artbook? Resin figures? Imagination is the limit! Oh, and available cash too…</p><p>         I got down of the train in the station, finally, in the otaku paradise that was Akihabara, ready to enjoy spending money in my favourite hobbies. But first, I had to give a visit to the WC: it was summer and the hot was unbearable, so I drank too much melon soda during the trip.</p><p>         But when I was in the middle of my evacuation of liquid wastes, something happened. It was briefly, not even a second but… for a moment I saw a curtain of glowing blue cubes waving over the restroom’s walls. At first I was startled but quickly dismissed it as just an unimportant hallucination caused by the heat. With no more thoughts, I left the WC after washing my hands and directed my steps to the otaku district.</p><p> </p><p>         It had been only 10 minutes and a huge manga library got my attention. I couldn’t remember having visited it before, then again, Akihabara had so many of them you could always stumble upon one you didn’t know.</p><p>         Inside the store was everything an otaku could desire and I had troubles deciding on what to buy; but in one of these walks, something captured my attention: a series of books with a girl on their cover; a girl wearing long boots, a dress and jacket with big shoulder pads, all in tones of navy blue and maroon; she wielded a sword and had a regal aura; her hair was a beautiful mane of intense red and orange, like flames. That was Selesia Upitiria, one of the main characters from Re:Creators, an anime I loved.</p><p>         <em>Wow, it must be a new artbook!</em> I thought, and rushed to that section to take a better look… only to hold one of those books in my hands with total astonishment. Its title didn’t read Re:Creators but “Elemental Symphony of Vogelchevalier”. That was one of the fictitious media portrayed in Re:Creators, a series of light novels and an anime that doesn’t really exist. Was this an artbook of concepts for that non existent show? But it was too small, like a… light novel?</p><p>         Intrigued I opened it and, yes, it was really a light novel. At first I thought they actually had released Vogelchevalier in real life, but something wasn’t right: the story seemed to be quite advanced, not what you expected in a first volume. Even more, I remembered that, in lore, Selesia’s look at the beginning was supposed to be different! Giving a second look at the cover I noticed a glaring “volume 21” next to the title.</p><p>         <em>What the… did they start publishing it in volume 21?</em> But this idea was soon discarded by giving a quick glance to the shelves, because the other 20 volumes could be seen there. That was unthinkable; they couldn’t have published 21 volumes of a light novel at the same time! I started giving quick looks to each one and with each one I grew more and more confused: those were the Vogelchevalier light novels. Even more, the publishing dates on them suggested that the series had existed for years!</p><p>         “No… nononono, this is impossible… this cannot be real…” I started speaking to myself holding various novels in my hands. And then, I was approached by two girls, a short dark-haired one with a heart-shaped backpack and a ponytail-ed redhead with a sports jacket.</p><p>         “Hey! You are also a fan of Vogelchevalier? It’s amazing isn’t it? I can consider it my favourite light novel series ever!” –thus spoke the redhead.</p><p>         “I’d say it’s become much better since Selesia went from secondary character and love interest to full-fledged protagonist. Making Charon retire as a hermit and leave the story was a winning move, don’t you think?” –the other asked.</p><p>         “I… I mean… yes? But… how is this…?” I intended to ask them how could these novels exist, but they misunderstood my question.</p><p>         “Well, after the events of the Elimination Chamber Festival it was meant to happen: Charon’s popularity plummeted to the bottom while Selesia’s rose. Even the anime’s second season had to change the point of narrative compared to the novels to move him aside.”</p><p>         “Well, duh, I’m not surprised. I mean, who the hell would want to read a story with a traitorous coward as the protagonist?”</p><p>         The more they talked about that, the more confused I was. Elimination Chamber Festival? That was an event in Re:Creators! They were talking like that was a real event! I needed answers and I didn’t know where to start…</p><p>         “E… excuse me. I’m… a bit confounded. Since when is Vogelchevalier a real light novel series?” At my words they just stared at me, with a puzzled expression drawn on their faces. Finally, the one with short hair asked me:</p><p>         “What do you mean by that? Vogelchevalier started being published back in 2013. Why do you ask that, didn’t you know? What did you think it was?”</p><p>         “I mean… <em>Elemental Symphony of Vogelchevalier</em> was not supposed to be a real series. It was one of the fictional franchises introduced in the anime <em>Re:Creators</em>. It didn’t exist! How can it be here?”</p><p>         “Re:Creators? Girl, I have no idea of what you are talking about, I’ve never heard about that anime. And Vogelchevalier has been one of the most popular representatives of high fantasy narrative in the last years.”</p><p>         “Oh wait, I think I know what that Re:Cretors is!” –said the girl with a ponytail. –“It’s a novel written by a new author named Anna Ryusei. It’s a philosophical story about the struggles of artists and creators with a fantastic element, since their creations appear in the real world.”</p><p>         “Y… yes, but not like that! Re:Creators is an anime, was produced by Troyca, its writers were Ei Aoki and Rei Hiroe… and it used fictional franchises like Vogelchevalier, Code:Babylon, Lockout Ward Underground –dark night–… but none of those franchises were real, they were all made up for that anime. Even the Elimination Chamber Festival was part of its story in the last arc!” Just a few seconds after I had said all of that, the girls started laughing hard.</p><p>         “Wahahahaha! That’s a good one, I must say! Part of an anime that doesn’t exist; yeah, of course. Here, look at all of this.” –The dark-haired girl started flipping the pages of one of the Vogelchevalier novels. –¿Does this look like it’s not a real novel to you?”<br/>         “And, which other ones did you mention? Code:Babylon? Underground –dark night–? Could you then tell me what these are?” –The other girl had moved to other shelve and was holding two mangas with her hands; once again volumes of stories that should not exist.</p><p>         “No… this… this cannot be… none of those series were real. They were made up for that anime…” My head was spinning; it was like I couldn’t grasp reality anymore. The red-haired girl laughed again.</p><p>         “Yahahahaha! Seriously girl, not only you are speaking nonsense, I wouldn’t want to live in a world where you couldn’t read the adventures of Shou and Yuuya.”</p><p>         After saying these words, the redhead was approached by her friend, who spoke to her with a mocking tone.</p><p>         “Adventures? Don’t you mean <em>slashfics</em>, you fujoshi?”</p><p>         “Don’t call me that!”</p><p>         And at this point, they forgot about me and started having a quarrel, pinching their faces and pulling their hair. I didn’t know how to react; my mind was still scrambled after all those impossible revelations. “Hey… calm down… I mean…” and there I stopped speaking, because they stopped fighting; or should I say, they stopped, period: they were completely immobile, in fact, even their hair and clothing was frozen in mid air. Even the mangas and novels they hold in their hands were half opened, yet their pages didn’t move.</p><p>         A quick glance beyond them would reveal that it was a phenomenon happening in the whole establishment. My breathing was the only sound I could hear.</p><p>         I felt completely dumbfounded: as impossible as it may sound, the reality was that time had stopped! Still incapable of assimilate what was transpiring in front of me, a voice could be heard behind me, a voice that I had heard before…</p><p>         “Holopsicon, 21<sup>st</sup> Movement of the Cosmos: Preservation Moment.”</p><p>         I couldn’t believe it… I just couldn’t believe it. But, after witnessing something impossible, I couldn’t reject that. Slowly, terrified of what I was about to witness, I turned myself around and, when I had a clear sight of what was at my back… I saw her. There she was, a slim looking woman of pale skin; her hair was white and absurdly long, consisting on both a mane and twin tails; she was wearing a casual outfit, sporting white and violet colours. But the traits that really caught my attention were her eyes: those peculiar looking eyes with two irises, an outer red one and an inner blue one; and inside them, square-shaped pupils.</p><p>         There was no doubt, I recognized her: in front of me was a real life anime character, in flesh and blood. I fell onto my butt, incapable of looking away, trembling like a reed lashed by strong winds. I babbled, trying to pronounce her name: “A… A… Al… A… Al… Alt…”</p><p>         “<em>Altair</em> is the name you are trying to speak, am I right?”</p><p>         She said those words with no apparent change in her poker face. Fear got the worst of me and, finally, I gathered enough strength to start running away from there. “HEEEELP!” I screamed with all the power my lungs could generate, and continued doing it even when I realized I was no longer moving and, instead, floated in midair. In a few seconds, my body turned around without my command and I was facing Altair once again, who hold her right palm upwards; at that moment I realized she was holding me with telekinesis. With no options left, I could just beg for my life. “PLEASE, DON’T KILL ME! I... I LOVED YOUR SHOW, YOU WERE MY FAVORITE CHARACTER, I SWEA…!” and my mouth was forcibly closed. Being able to emit just gagging sounds, my voice was no longer an obstacle to Altair’s words.</p><p>         “Jeez, girl, calm down! I’m not going to hurt you, I promise! Listen, I’m going to let you free, but don’t try running again and don’t scream. There’s something important I need to tell you. Understood?”</p><p>         I could just barely nod at her words. Then my body could once again stay on foot and I didn’t felt my mouth immobilized. Yet I didn’t try to escape; after all, it was pretty clear it’d be impossible to me to outrun her. I stood there, incapable of moving my gaze away from the one once known as the Military Uniform Princess. Finally, she spoke:</p><p>         “Well, I guess you may have deducted it by now, but just in case, let me tell you this: this is not your world.”</p><p>         Her words took a site in my mind, surrounded by the strange happenings of the last minutes and assembled together into one explanation: I was in the world of Re:Creators. “Wait, so… am I really in the world of an anime? I… I am in the world of one of my favourite animes, I really am!” All fear and confusion inside me were soon transformed into joy and excitement; travelling into an anime world, I was really living every otaku’s dream! Or so I thought, until Altair responded to my joyful statement.</p><p>         “Well, not exactly, that’s not what is happening to you.”</p><p>         “Eh? But… all these mangas and novels, those were from Re:Creators. Not to mention, you! You are supposed to be an anime character and yet, you are here physically, you are real…” without thinking too much, I was stretching my arm in her direction, with the intention of touching her pale face; that is, until one of her hands took grip of my wrist and, with a strength I had no hope to half match, pushed my arm away.</p><p>         “I don’t remember giving you permission to touch me.” Her semblance changed into one of severity. It was then that I remember who I had aggravated: this was Altair, the Military Uniform Princess, the villainous protagonist of Re:Creators who was willing to destroy the universe to avenge her creator’s death. She was powerful enough to delete and create a universe, capable of casually tossing a giant robot aside with her fingers… I felt fear, once again and, without even thinking it, I tossed myself down, on my knees and hand palms, bowing so my head touched the floor.</p><p>         “I’m sorry, I’m terribly sorry! Please, have mercy! I was just admiring you…!”</p><p>         “Again?! Get up immediately!”</p><p>         Her voice came with a strong and imposing authority that I couldn’t fight against. Before realizing it, I was on my feet, my body straight and firm like a fir. “Yes, as you command!” After some awkward seconds that felt eternal to me, Altair sighed and spoke again:</p><p>         “Anyway… I need to bring you back to your world. But I’m pretty sure there are a lot of questions currently in your head so… first we are going to detour a bit: there’s a friend of mine you need to meet. She’ll explain this situation to you better than I would.”</p><p>         “A… friend?” Thanks to my knowledge of the anime, I had an idea of who that “<em>friend</em>” was. “So, are we going now to meet her?”</p><p>         “That’s correct. This will be your second travelling between dimensions, but this time we are going to a very different place, so try to not get disoriented, not too much.”</p><p>         “Wait! What about this world? You stopped its time and now…”</p><p>         “Relax, it’s just temporary: as soon as we depart, time will flow again. Anyway, shall we go?”</p><p>         And with those words, a wall of glowing blue cubes engulfed us and that mundane scenario was obscured from my sight.</p><p> </p><p>╠══════════╣</p><p> </p><p>         “Don’t you ever call me <em>fujoshi</em> again! I’m not a dork like them!”</p><p>         “Then stop obsessing so much over boys love!”</p><p>         “Never! Shou and Yuuya are made to be together! Anyone who pays attention to the story’s subtle details can see it!”</p><p>         “Subtle details? Don’t make me laugh, you are just giving meaning to things that are not supposed to have it! Like the… wait, where is that girl?”</p><p>         “Uh? Now that you mention her… yes, she’s gone. Maybe she got scared.”</p><p>         “Meh, who cares, she was crazy. She’d probably had said we are characters from a videogame or something like that.”</p><p> </p><p>╠══════════╣</p><p> </p><p>         In just seconds, the flow of cubes stopped, leading to a majestic sight: a beautiful, brilliant golden palace. I recognized it: it was the place that Altair created in episode 21, the place she went with Setsuna. It was so… lovely. I looked around, dumbfounded, trapped in its beauty. “This is…”</p><p>         “My home, in this world.”</p><p>         “Wait, this world? You mean… the world you created together with…”</p><p>         “Yes. This is Eden. An infinite world. A world with no suffering, no worries, no danger. This is my world.”</p><p>         And at that moment, with a soft sound, one of the doors opened; from it, a thin girl with long dark hair and glasses appeared; she carried something with her arms. Step by step, she approached us with a smile; Altair looked to her and smiled back with two words:</p><p>         “Our world.”</p><p>         For the second time this day, I was contemplating a real life anime character: Setsuna Shimazaki; Altair’s creator and her most beloved person.</p><p>         “I felt your presence back here, Altair. So, is this girl the castaway?”</p><p>         <em>Castaway</em>? That’s how they called those who ended up in another world? I guess it makes sense.</p><p>         “Yeah, she is. Still, she needs someone to explain her what really happened and her situation, that’s why I brought her here. Oh, and by the way, how is she?”</p><p>         Altair spoke at the same time she smiled. Not her evil villainous smirk from the anime, no: a genuine and caring smile, full of affection. And she was looking at what was on Setsuna’s arms. But <em>what</em> was not the adequate word: it was <em>who</em>; Setsuna was carrying a little kid.</p><p>         “Well, she felt tired and asked me to hold her. She probably found it comfortable and…”</p><p>         “Awwww, poor thing, she’s fallen asleep already. Let me hold her too.”</p><p>         Setsuna gave Altair the sleeping little girl and, when watching her on the former Military Uniform Princess’ arms, I realized how similar they were: that kid had the same pale skin and white hair as her caretaker. Could it be that Altair had a daughter?</p><p>         “I think I’ll put her in her bed, she needs to properly rest. Can you attend our guest meanwhile Setsuna?”<br/>         “Of course, it’d be my pleasure. We’ll wait for you here.”</p><p>         And with an ‘<em>I’ll be back soon</em>’ Altair disappeared with the little kid through a nearby door. I was alone in that golden corridor, with Setsuna smiling at me.</p><p>         “Well… nice… to meet you. I mean… I, I don’t know what to say. I still cannot believe what is happening: until an hour ago I just knew of you as a 2D fictional character, and now… now you are in front of me and… am I dreaming? Or did I fainted and I’m currently hallucinating in a hospital bed?” Setsuna just gave me a light giggle.</p><p>         “Your confusion is understandable. But rest assured this is neither a dream, nor a mirage: all is real, including me. You fell into a breach between worlds and ended up in one that was kind of similar to yours. You probably experienced some phenomenon that left a visual clue, like a blue glow made of geometrical shapes, am I right?”</p><p>         “That… the public restroom! So that was the moment when… oh, that’s right! Altair said a friend of her could explain me my situation. What did she meant by that?” Setsuna’s face became that of a slight surprise before her smile came back to it.</p><p>         “Oh, I’m sorry, but I’m not the person she meant when she told you those words.”</p><p>         “Eh?” I wasn’t expecting to hear that. “But… if she wasn’t talking about you, who is that then? Does she really have other friends?”</p><p>         “I’ve heard you.”</p><p>         I got startled and shrieked when Altair’s voice spoke next to me. Without ever thinking, I run towards a wall, pressed my back against it and started apologizing with all my own being. “I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry! Ididn’tmeanitpleasehavemercyplease!” Altair just sighed while covering her face with her palm.</p><p>         “Can you believe it, Setsuna? She’s been like this since our first meeting. You,” –she said while addressing me; –“you said you liked the anime. I assume you watched it until the very end, right?”</p><p>         “I… I… Y-yes, I watched it entirely.” The white haired woman just shrugged her shoulders.</p><p>         “Then, why are you so scared? You are supposed to know my whole story, aren’t you?”</p><p>         “I… suppose…” It’s true that at the end she seemed to have a change of heart… but the show didn’t explore it enough! Then again, I guessed that Setsuna’s presence helped calming her. To tell the truth, she didn’t looked ill intentioned. “So… who’s this friend then?”</p><p>         “Well, you’ll meet her very soon. So, should we start moving? I guess everyone is waiting for us, right Setsuna?”</p><p>         “You bet it, the food is nearly ready. Oh, now that I mention it… are you hungry? There’s enough space for an extra guest, and I think you’d really enjoy this invitation.”</p><p>         “Eeeeeh?” <em>Did I just receive a proposal to have dinner with anime characters?</em> “I… are you sure is not a bother to you?”</p><p>         “Of course not! Also, everyone knows Altair went to rescue a reality castaway. And since you need to talk to <em>her</em>, it’d be a pity if you didn’t stay too. We’d be really honoured if you accept!”</p><p>         I had to admit, Setsuna was really charming. To think she had to suffer so much in the story… seeing that smile I could understand Altair’s wrath to a certain point. But, who was that <em>her</em> I needed to talk with?</p><p> </p><p>         We were walking down another golden corridor, with multiple doors at each side, and one last double one at the very end. A question was formed into my mind. “So… why didn’t you teleported directly into the room where everyone else is?” Altair gave me a glance and smiled.</p><p>         “Simple: there are a lot of people already there. Teleporting in the middle of the room may cause an accident. Also, you were too shocked, so I thought that a small walk could help you clearing your mind. You seem to be more calmed now, don’t you?”</p><p>         “I, I guess so.” I couldn’t stop thinking on how non-threatening she looked like: with those casual clothing instead of her uniform and hat, that friendly countenance… “And, why do you have guests for dinner?” This time, Setsuna answered.</p><p>         “Oh, every year after that great crisis ended, we all decided during dinner that we’d celebrate our victory every year. This is the second anniversary.”</p><p>         “Ah…” That was the only answer I could give, because I didn’t understand what she was talking about. Crisis? Did she mean the end of the Elimination Chamber Festival? What dinner? The show didn’t show them having dinner, even less, it didn’t show them with others. But soon I’ll obtain my answers to those questions, because we reached the door at the end of the hallway, they opened it and…</p><p>         “Yooo, it was about time!”</p><p>         “At last, I was hungry!”</p><p>         “Oh, so that girl is…”</p><p>         A vast room opened before me, containing several types of appliances with glass doors, and behind said doors, many types of foods. But that was the less astonishing part of the room. No, the one that really caught my attention were the several tables were many individuals were sitting around them; and if had already been shocked enough by meeting Altair and Setsuna… the whole room was full of characters from the anime Re:Creators.</p><p>         I started recognizing faces; it felt so strange, being used to seeing them as two-dimensional drawings behind a screen and currently seeing those same characters as flesh and bone human beings…</p><p>         The first one, with her fiery red hair and crystal blue eyes was unmistakable: Selesia Upitiria; next to her, there were a man in his late thirties, with glasses and balding head, and next to him a short, chubby woman of messy brown hair and cute chocolate eyes covered by spectacles: Takashi Matsubara and Ayano Koura AKA Marine, Selesia’s creators.</p><p>         A man of brown half mane, glasses and three days beard couldn’t be other than Ryou Yatouji, who had his creations sitting next to him: an extremely attractive man of purple hair and flashy glasses was sitting next to a blonde, handsome boy of violet eyes; Yuuya Mirokuji and Shou Hakua.</p><p>         As a complete opposite, the next man I saw was not what I’d call ‘attractive’, with that unkempt hair, big nose and prominent teeth: Nishio Oonishi, the perverted creator. Next to him, that young and beautiful girl of bubblegum pink hair with twin tails and cherry eyes was her creation, the poor romantic fool Hikayu Hoshikawa.</p><p>         A young man of navy hair, blue eyes and childish features would evoke in my memory the name of Rui Kanoya; next to him was his creator, Masaaki Nakanogane, who, actually, was one I didn’t recognize at first, since he had lost some weight and wasn’t as big as in the anime.</p><p>         Then… there was a group of people I couldn’t recognize at all. Starting with a tall, bald man of curly, brunette beard and slim figure; also, there was this woman of black eyes and asymmetrical hairstyle with some coloured highlights; her strange look made me doubt if she was a creator or a creation. But for the next two, there was no other possibility than those two being creations: one was a woman of light blue skin, silver eyes and brilliant copper hair cascading in rippled, drill-like fringes and zigzagging twin tails and pony tail. The other one was an androgynous figure who I really couldn’t say if that was a man or a woman, with orange-tanned skin, orange eyes and shining hair of golden and pink tones, stylized in a tall bun with various thin tails sprouting out of it.</p><p>        But then, there was someone I could recognize: a tall woman of dark brown hair stylized in a bun and oval glasses: Aki Kikuchihara.</p><p>         The serious looking middle aged man of brunette hair, beard and moustache, white sideburns and glasses was clearly Blitz Talker; next to him, his daughter Erina was easily recognizable with her abundant flaxen hair and lime eyes. And, something I wasn’t expecting, their creator Shunma Suruga was actually sitting next to them. She still had that tomboy look, with her short messy black hair and dead-fish eyes. I must say, they actually looked like a family.</p><p>         A tall, regal woman of long, flowing blonde hair and beautiful emerald eyes was recognized by me as the noble warrior Aliceteria February. The man next to her was none other than her creator Gai Takarada, with his tanned skin and spiky brown hair; Gai didn’t exhibit the same bags under his eyes as at the end of the anime.</p><p>         In the last group, the first one I could recognize was a young girl of light pink hair and intense violet eyes, who could only be Mamika Kirameki. And at her side, a petite woman of short, silver hair and turquoise eyes made one name appear in my thoughts: Meteora Österreich, one of the most important characters in the show. And speaking of important characters, the narrator himself, Souta Mizushino was next to her, accompanied by a middle aged woman that I didn’t recognize at first until I realized that was a character who barely appeared in the show: Souta’s mother.</p><p>          I couldn’t see my own face but, judging from their expressions, it was probably a funny sight. But, could you blame me? For any “<em>normal</em>” person, being able to meet your idols in person is usually a moment of excitement and joy; now imagine if your idols are supposed to be imaginary, the don’t really exist, you’ll never meet them because they are not real… and yet, I was in front of them at that moment. I think that I probably was even drooling, because I could hear some muted giggles. Finally, Setsuna herself stood by my side and spoke:</p><p>         “Everyone, please, calm down. This girls is obviously confused, don’t make her situation more uncomfortable. Moreover, she’s also a fan of us! Yes, she watched the reflection!”</p><p>         Setsuna’s words gave way to a collection of murmurs of understanding. I do wondered… how was for Souta to be in the same room as her? In fact, I asked myself why were all of them in this room. Soon, I was about to receive answers, in the form of a girl who approached me; soon, I was face to face with that tranquil face of turquoise eyes.</p><p>         “Hello. My current name is Anna Ryusei, but I’m sure you knew me by another name, am I right?”</p><p>         My body couldn’t react. Once again, I stood completely startled: she sounded exactly like in the show; it was so surreal. Finally, I answered her question: “Meteora… Österreich…” She smiled.</p><p>         “Yes, that’s right. I am Meteora Österreich, the former Seeker of the Thousand Miles, Librarian of Kunst Wunderkammer, at the end of the Last Tableland, from Avalken of Reminisce. Now I’m just a novelist in Japan. And your creator.”</p><p>         I kept paying attention to her talking. It filled me with nostalgia hearing that description, the amount of words that sounded so magical, so fantastic… and then she said those three words. “Wait… what was the last thing you said?” I was sure I had heard it wrongly, I mean, she was an anime character from an anime world…</p><p>         “This may come as a shock to you. Truth is, the world you watched in the anime of Re:Creators is the true <em>Real World</em>. Your world is actually a Story World, not different from my former world or every other Creation’s world. And I wrote it, as a side story in my novel.”</p><p>         “… WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!” That was the point where my brain felt like turning off. She was joking, she had to be joking. “What do you mean with that?! That’s impossible, I mean, I watched the anime, I saw all of you, you were characters in it! How can my world be your creation?! It makes no sense!”</p><p>         “Please, have a seat, I’ll explain everything.”</p><p>         Meteora offered me to seat in the same table of her, just in front of her. I didn’t know what else to say, I was still processing her words. Suddenly, being surrounded by anime characters became a secondary thought in my mind. If she was speaking the truth… I was one of them…</p><p>         “You remember the story about the Great Destruction, right? About how Altair tried to break the balance of logic in the universe, with the intention to cause its end.”</p><p>         Through the corner of my eye I saw Altair flinching at Meteora’s words; could it be that she felt guilt for her actions? Trying to not give it much importance at the moment, I nodded at Meteora.</p><p>         “Even after those events, I feared the Power of Restoration of the universe could not completely heal all the wounds, the same way a flesh wound always leaves a scar. So I developed an extra measure: a Story World where real life logic would be the norm, but without the events that threatened it in the Land of Creators. This Story World would act as a counterbalance to those, kinda like tricking the Land of Creators into equating its logic to that of said world due to how outstandingly mundane it was. That way, this Story World helped into maintaining the balance of the Universe after its scars were closed.”</p><p>         “I’m… I’m sorry, I fear I got half lost. I think I have a vague idea of what you are trying to tell me, but…” Just like in the show, I’d need to ‘<em>re-watch</em>’ Meteora’s speech various times to understand it…</p><p>         “Don’t think too much about that. Just know that your world’s existence helped the Land of Creators into healing itself.”</p><p>         “But… I find all of these too hard to believe. Not that I’m calling you a <em>liar</em> or something like that, it’s just that…”</p><p>         “I can understand your confusion, but worry not, I can proof it.”</p><p>         And then, the young sorcerer opened a book and, after reciting words that sounded like a bunch of non related terms, a shining glyph appeared in mid air and, from it, a book. Meteora took it and gave it to me.</p><p>         “Open it at page 99, please. Then read it.”</p><p>         I did as she said and started reading: it described a world like the real one, but with subtle differences: the events of the Elimination Chamber Festival never took place, none of the franchises involved in it ever existed, not even those indirectly related in some way to their participants (which I supposed referred to Mamika and Magane), and no fictional character ever appeared in it. But there was one more detail: the story related how the events of the real world existed as an anime, an anime called <em>Re:Creators</em>.</p><p>         I closed the novel and gazed upon Meteora’s turquoise eyes. “I… I’m a creation… my world is a creation… and you… wait, you are my goddess?!”</p><p>         “I’d rather not be called by such a pompous term, but yes, as I said before, I created your world. I hope it wasn’t a big shock: I created it with the intention of you all having the most free will as possible as inhabitants of a reflection.”</p><p>         “This is… this is way too much. To even think that my reality wasn’t that real…”</p><p>         “Yo, girl, don’t give it too much thought. For all of you who inhabit it, your world is real!”</p><p>         That tough voice came from Yuuya, and he wasn’t the only one who tried to encourage me after the shock of this revelation.</p><p>         “Your world has a noble purpose. Don’t feel sad for its nature, its existence is something good.” –Said Selesia with a smile.</p><p>         “You could say it fought a battle to save its ‘mother’, there’s no shame in its origin.” –Were Aliceteria’s words.</p><p>         “There’s nothing wrong in being a creation, especially one who has been given such degree of freedom.” –Spoke the blue-skinned woman whose name I didn’t know.</p><p>         “In the end, your origin is not what matters: is the path you follow and were it will lead.” –Commented Blitz with a calmed voice tone.</p><p>         “I… it’ll take a time to get used to… but on the other hand…” And here my inner otaku exploded; “The worlds of fiction exist! That’s amazing!” Yes, that’s the moment when I remembered I was sitting among anime characters in another world: I was living the otaku dream. “But… there’s something I still don’t get: since when you all and Altair are friends? Also… shouldn’t some of those present here be… dead?” My words covered the whole ambience in an awkward veil of silence. Finally, Aliceteria crossed her arms and responded:</p><p>         “I’m still angry about that.”</p><p>         “Alice, please, don’t start again.”</p><p>         That’s what Mamika said to her friend. I realized at that point that Altair was looking at me with confusion drawn on her face.</p><p>         “I thought you said you had watched the whole anime. Then, why do you ask those questions? You should already have the answers.”</p><p>         But before I could answer her that none of those were explained in the anime, Meteora beat me on giving a response.</p><p>         “Let me explain: to avoid generating a great disturbance, since some later events actually involved her world, I purposely written that Re:Creators wasn’t very successful and had only a season.”</p><p>         “Eh? But then… what events were covered in it?”</p><p>         “Well…” I spoke again “the story ends after you and Setsuna reunite again, create Eden, then every creation return to their respective worlds and Meteora stays in Earth and writes her novel.” This time a collective yell of disbelief invaded the whole room.</p><p>         “But, if that’s true, you have missed out a lot!” –Were Selesia’s words.</p><p>         “So you haven’t seen our battles <em>there</em>…” –Replied Aliceteria.</p><p>         “Cht, that means you didn’t saw my best moments.” –Commented Yuuya with a tone of frustration.</p><p>         “Wait! Does that mean she doesn’t know us?!”</p><p>         The androgynous person asked Meteora while pointing to the nearby individuals.</p><p>         “No Fabyura, she doesn’t.”</p><p>         To my surprise, Altair hit her own forehead with her hand and spoke with a voice that denoted annoyance.</p><p>         “Ugh, no wonder you were so scared of me! You probably still think of me as a bloodthirsty sociopath!”</p><p>         “Well… I mean yes… but no… but… is that a trick question?!”</p><p>         “<em>Sigh</em>… I’ll take that as a ‘<em>yes</em>’. Listen, I’m not proud of my past actions; a lot of things happened after that, and I mean a lot. And I’m really glad those events transpired like they did.”</p><p>         With those words, Altair gave a quick look to everyone, with a warm smile drawn on her face. And to my surprise, they smiled back at her, gave her a thumbs up, a nod… even some like Blitz raised their drinks. The idea of Altair befriending them was so contradictory with what I knew… yet, today I realized I really didn’t know a lot of the complete story. “I see… it’s a pity I didn’t get to know them. And I suppose, it’s a too long story to narrate it now, isn’t it?” And as I said that, the former Seeker of the Thousand Miles spoke:</p><p>         “Well, that’s true but, that story is not completely unknown in your world.”</p><p>         “Uh? But, I’m not aware of any manga or light novel that continues the plot after the anime.”</p><p>         “At the moment, no. But there’s something else. Can you give me your smartphone, just for a few seconds? Unlocked, of course.”</p><p>         I gave her my phone, not sure why she needed it and she tapped the screen multiple times, apparently, writing something.</p><p>         “There you have.”</p><p>         The web browser was opened, with an address written on it. “But… I recognize this site. This… this is a fanfiction site, isn’t it? This is the web address of a fanfic?”</p><p>         “Stories find a way to be told. This was the best way to not disturb the balance: a real story disguised as an unofficial one.”</p><p>         And she gave me a thumbs-up, not so dissimilar to the one she did in episode 5. “Thanks. I’ll start reading it immediately, as soon as I arrive home.” As I finished my statement, Setsuna answered.</p><p>         “That’d be great, but first, it’s time to have dinner, don’t you think?”</p><p>         “Yes please, I’m starving!”</p><p>         “Jeez, it was about time.”</p><p>         “Let’s enjoy our anniversary feast!”</p><p> </p><p>╠══════════╣</p><p> </p><p>         “Woaaaaaaaaah! This food is… delicious!” I had never eaten something so tasty, all those meals flavours were exploding in my mouth.</p><p>         “All this food comes from my current world. It was the same when I arrived there: even in a world where the creator has taken special care into describing smells and flavours, nothing can compare to food of a multi layered universe.”</p><p>         Meteora’s words evoked in my mind how creations found the food in the Land of the Gods so delicious… and now it happened to me too.</p><p>         And so, my first dinner among “<em>anime</em>” took place; although it wasn’t the right term to use, I still couldn’t help to see them as characters from one of my favourite animes ever.</p><p>         We chatted, we laughed, we ate, we had a great time. They were pretty friendly with a fan like me, open to my fangirl antics. And yes, meeting pretty anime boys in real life was quite the dream; not only Yuuya and Shou, but Rei was also very handsome, with his slender figure and peach face. And I certainly laughed a lot when I discovered one last side of Altair: her love for ramen; it happened when Yuuya offered her some:</p><p>         “Yoo, Alt-chin!”</p><p>         “I’ve told you, don’t call me that!”</p><p>         At this moment Meteora giggled a little “<em>Heh</em>”</p><p>         “I’ve taken the liberty of preparing a bowl for you. I call it the <em>Underground Hardcore Street Warrior Special</em>, and since you are the ramen gourmet here, you should give it a try!”</p><p>         And with those words spoken, Yuuya placed in front of Altair a big steaming bowl. A quick glance to its contents revealed a great heap of udon and ramen noodles, green onions, red peppers, some fish (later I was informed it was mackerel), chickpeas, blood sausages and toasted sunflower seeds, all floating in a reddish brown thick broth. I was pretty sure that abomination would be considered a heresy to ramen lovers. Yet, Altair stared at it with her eyes wide open, shining sparkles in them… and quickly took a portion of that random dish and slurped it with delight. Her face after that… I could never have imagined that the terrifying Military Uniform Princess could look that… cute.</p><p> </p><p>         Finally, after nearly three hours, it was time for everyone to return to their worlds. Altair was the one tasked with that, with the creators being the last ones to be sent. Before that, Meteora had some last words for me:</p><p>         “Now that you are aware of your true nature, please, don’t ever feel like your life is meaningless, because your world, your existence, will always carry my will and dreams. You have the potential to shine like a star: embrace it and always go forward.”</p><p>         I felt like… like I was being encouraged by my own mother. So this is how it feels to talk to your own god…</p><p> </p><p>         “Well, you are the last one. Ready to go back home?”</p><p>         “Oh, before that… may I ask you of a small favour?”</p><p>         “Uh? It depends, what do you want?”</p><p>         “Well, I’ve only seen this palace in the inside. But, I’m actually really curious into knowing how Eden looks like. Can I see it?”</p><p>         “Oh, only that? It will be easy?”</p><p>         “Thank you! Oh, and, I guess it’s time to say goodbye Setsuna. It’s been a real pleasure to be here, thank you for your hospitality.”</p><p>         “The pleasure was us! I hope you have a nice trip. You can come back whenever you want.”</p><p>         “Really? But… wouldn’t I be out of place?”</p><p>         “Why? You are a creation too, remember that?”</p><p>         “Oh…” Yeah, I still was getting used to the idea. “Then, thank you, thank you one million times! This is the most fun I’ve had in years, I’d gladly repeat it! I hope you too are doing fine after today. See you next time.”</p><p> </p><p>╠══════════╣</p><p> </p><p>         Eden was a beautiful place! It really looked like a fantasy setting: its skies were in tones of orange, cyan and violet, full of stars and moons of multiple tones, fields of golden sand, violet crystal and lush green ground were visible from the air. Oh yeah, forgot to mention: I was flying! Or, better said, I was being carried through the air by Altair, floating by her side.</p><p>         Trees, grass, ferns, flowers, rocks… everything had forms and colours impossible to find in my world. We even passed over groups of people and families; when they recognized Altair they happily greeted her.</p><p>         “Wow, you are pretty popular.”</p><p>         “Well, technically, I’m the goddess of this world.”</p><p>         “Oh, of course, that’s right! They seem to be really happy, you must be very nice to them.”</p><p>         “Well, I gave them eternal life in an infinite world without dangers or worries. A world that gives every basic necessity you may need, from food to shelter and clothing. Money is only used for luxuries, and people work because they want, not because they have to.”</p><p>         “Really?! That’s… I mean, I understand why you named it <em>Eden</em>. This is a paradise in life!”</p><p>         “I’ll be honest: the name was Setsuna’s idea. But yes, after all, I had known the hardships of her former world. No way I was re-creating that here.”</p><p>         “Are you… are you sad sometimes?”</p><p>         “Why do you ask that?”</p><p>         “I mean… you and Setsuna are now immortal, aren’t you?”</p><p>         “We are, yes.”</p><p>         “But all your friends… someday they’ll die… isn’t that idea painful?” But Altair only gave me a smirk before adding:</p><p>         “Isn’t a little silly coming from you not to deduce that I can make them be reborn here after their deaths?”</p><p>         “You… you can do that?!”</p><p>         “Of course I can. It wouldn’t be my first time doing it.”</p><p>         She could even give people a new eternal life in a paradise… without a doubt, I was in presence of a goddess!</p><p> </p><p>╠══════════╣</p><p> </p><p>         A flash of blue light covered my eyes for an instant before appearing back in my room.</p><p>         “Wow… looking at everything here, it feels like a dream. Maybe… maybe I really dreamt everything?” Certainly, all those events seemed too fantastic, to unreal to have transpired in reality, but in my smartphone I had proof of the contrary: a collective photograph of everyone in the meeting, and the web address Meteora gave me. And, without anything better to do, I opened it in my computer, with the intention of enjoy my time reading <em>Re:Creators 2; Protagonist’s Path</em>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well, this is my first Re:Creators fanfic. I loved this anime so much that I felt I'd have to give it tribute.</p><p>And yes, this is essentialy a teaser for a future fan-sequel project.</p><p>One more thing: English is not my mother language: if you find errors or have a suggestion on how to improve this story's narrative pacing, feel free to let me know in the comments. Have a nice one!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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